Electric overhead door opening and closing device



July 10, 1951 J. N. MCNINCH ETAL ELECTRIC OVERHEAD DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet l Fild Nov. 15, 1948 0000000OO00OO000 000 James M. Mc/Vinch L awrence E Myers INVENTORS WW F M1 July 10, 1951 J. N. MNl NCH ET AL 2,560,236

ELECTRIC OVERHEAD DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING DEVICE Filed Nov. 15, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 i E| S 4 R, Q\ s N m w 1 Y Q s i I E ld.

I Q/ E Q vE {James Mme/Wm L awrence E. Myw zivmvroxs July 10, 1951 J. N. MGNINCH EI'AL ELECTRIC OVERHEAD DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING DEVICE Filed Nov. 15, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 A mm H h /v Y\ wk LET James N. McA/inc/z Lawrence E. Myers INVENTOR8 Patented July 10, 1951 ELECTRIC OVERHEAD noon OPENING AND oLosmenEvwE James N. McNinch and Lawrence E. Myers, Sterling, Ill., assignors, by direct and mesne assignments, to Sterling Electronic Door Control Corporation, Sterling, .-:Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application November 15,1948, Serial No. 60,102

This invention comprises novel and useful imsides generally in an improved control means for sliding the door in response to actuation of the electric motor. The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved and simple construction of operating means for imparting the opening and closing movement to an overhead door construction.

A further object of the invention is to provide an operating means having the facility of operation which characterizes a sprocket chain and "wherein improved housingand guiding meansare provided fo retaining the operating means for reciprocating movement without deviation from its longitudinal path of reciprocation. I

An important feature of the invention resides in the provision of a channel-shaped operating. track having upper and lower guide surfaces "therein and a medial longitudinal slot in the up:

per wall thereof, through which slot extends the lower end of the door supporting carriage which is pivotally connected to one end of the sprocket chain operating member, this sprocket chain be- -ing slidably received between the upper and lower 1 guide surfaces to prevent buckling or distortion of the chain during the push and pull movement imparted thereto by the power operating mecha- 'nism.

Y Yet another feature of the inventionresides in the construction of the operating trackwhich includes a horizontal bottom wall, parallel vertically disposed side walls and inwardly extending 'top walls overlying the bottom wall and spaced 1 from each other to provide a longitudinal slot for -guidingly receiving the lower end of the door supporting carriage, the lower ends of the depending flanges overlying the upper ends ofthe rail carried by the bottom wall to guidingly receive the upper and lower surfaces of thesprocket chain connecting pins therebetween.

Yet another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a construction as set forth in the preceding featureswherein the side links of the sprocket chain are adapted to overlie the adjacent edges of the bottom guiding rail in the upper flanges or guiding ribs, to establish a lateral g-uid ;;inga ti0n of thethainther be weent- 8 Claims. (class-+59) These, together with further ancillary objects and features of the invention which will become later apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by this mechanism, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated by way of example only in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a'fragmentary vertical longitudinal sectional view through a portion ofa door, a :door' frame and supporting construction, and showing the principles of this invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse sectional detail view, taken substantially upon the plane of the section line 2-2 of Figure 1, parts being broken away, and illustrating the manner of mounting, guiding and operating a door in accordancewith this invention;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating -20 the electrical connections for controlling the motor for operating the door in accordance with the principles of this invention; q'Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail view taken upon an enlarged scale substantially upon the 25' plane of the section line 4-4 of Figure l and illustrating in particular the manner in which the :door supporting carriage is associated with the j door operating rail and the door operating means;

and

V, Figure 5 is a further vertical'sectional view taken substantially upon the plane of the broken section line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Referring now more specifically to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals j designate similar parts throughout the various views, attention is directed primarily first to 5 Figures 1 and 2 wherein the numeral l0 desig- ,-nates 'a portion of a door framework which is adaptedto be closed by a door consisting of a plurality "of panels l2 hinged together as at M to form a flexible type of door although the invention is obviously equally applicable to the non-sectional type, which will normally bever- 'tically disposed to close the opening in the door frame lfl. V

In this type of door, commonly employed for garages or the like, a track or guideway [6 of known design and of channel shaped construction is provided for guidingly and slidingly receiving guide and support rollers H, see Figure 2, with which the door panels l2 are provided to enable the door to be lowered into its vertical position as shown in Figure 1 for closing the gdo or or t0, beualternatively lifted and reset into porting a pair of door carriages indicated generally by the numeral 20 and which consist essentially of T-shaped members, having supporting Wheels 22 journaled on the ends of the arms of the T and by means of whichthe carriage and the door carried thereby is supported.

The uppermost panel I 2 of thedoor has rigidly moved intheir tracks 16, first vertically and then horizontally, as will be apparent from Figurel. As the door moves from the horizontal position, the endmost panel pivots about the pivot orfulcrum pin upon the carriage to accommodate the relative changes of motion.

A pair of channel-shaped door operating tracks 26 are likewise carried by the door containing structure and are positioned below the carriage track 48. A door operating means, in the form of a sprocket chain construction 28 is slidingly and guidingly mounted in each of the operating tracks 26 and that one end is pivotally connected to the end of the carriagemember 20 which extends into and is slidingly guided in the track 26.

The door is mechanically operated as byv means of an electric motor 30, which is preferably of the split phase induction type, the shaft 32 of this motor driving a main operating shaft 34' -journaled upon the supporting framework for the .door. These jack shafts 40 carry sprocket wheels 42, see Figure 1, which extend into the operating tracks 26 and engage with the sprocket chain operating means 28 adjacent one end thereof for imparting a pushing or a pulling motion selectively to this chain as set forth hereinaften.

Reference is now made more particularly to Figures 4 and 5 for an explanation of the construction of the operating means and the operating track. The track 26 consists of a channel member having a bottom wall 44 with an upstanding longitudinal medial rib 46 thereon which constitutes a lower guide surface, the sides of the bottom wall 44 having parallel vertical upwardly extending side walls 48 whose upper ends are inwardly turned to form top walls 50 which terminate in spaced relation to each other toprovide a central longitudinal slot in the top walls through which the dependin leg of the T-shaped carriage 22 extends and slides.

The inner extremities of the top walls 50 are downwardly turned as at 52 to form parallel guides along the sides of the above-mentioned slot, the lower edges of these flanges constituting rib forming upper guide surfaces which overlie and are in a constant spaced relation with respect to the rail 46. I

The operatin means includes a sprocket chain 28 which is formed of a plurality of articulated elements, each of these elements or segments likewise confined to a similar movement.

4 consistin of a pair of spaced parallel links 54 which are terminally connected to the ends of adjacent links, by means of connecting pins 56 about which are provided spacer rollers 58. The endmost link of the sprocket chain is pivoted by the end pivot 56 to the lowermost end 58 of the downwardly extending leg member '59 of the T-shaped carriage 22. As will be readily seen from Figure 4, and from Figure 5, the upper 'and'lower surfaces of the sleeves 58 of the pins are slidingly and guidingly received between the adjacent guide surfaces of the depending ribs 52 and the upstanding rail 46 to thus prevent buckling of the sprocket chain links and thus positively constrain and confine the same to a straight line reciprocation. Further, as shown in Figure 4, the links 54 overlap the adjacent guide surfaces of the rail 46 and the ribs 52, to constitute a lateral guiding means which prevents the sprocket chain from being wthdrawn laterally from between the guide surfaces. Thus, the sprocket chain is limitedto a straight reciprocatory movement between the two guide surfaces, and consequently the carriage 22. is y reason of the engagement of the sprocket wheel 42 therewith, the motor 30 is thus enabled under the control of a directing switch assembly to selectively impart a pushingor pulling motion to the sprocket chains 28, to the carriage 22 and to the door mounted thereon.

As shown in Figures 1, 4 and 5, the supports 24 are pivoted or journaled upon lateral support and pivot pins 60, by means of, sleeves or bushings 62 thereon, these pins being welded or otherwise rigidly attached and extending laterally from the legs 59 of the carriage members.

Likewise rigidly carried by the legs 59 of the carriage members 22, are laterally extending lugs or fingers 64 which are adapted to engage limiting switches disposed in their path of travel as set forth hereinafter, for the purpose of stopping the actuation of motor. 30 at the two extremesof the door position.

As will be readily seen from Figures 2, 4 and 5, the depending legs 59 of the carriage members 22 are goosenecked or suitably curved in shape to enable the rollers 22. to lie directly above the pivot 60 and the sprocket chain link pins 56.

Any suitable means may be provided for controlling the operation of the motor 30 to operate the mechanism for raising or lowering the door. However, one suitable form of electrical circuit has been diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 3, wherein the electric motor 30 is shown as being of the split base type and is connected to electrical leads wand 12 which communicate in any desired manner with any suitable source of electric current, the lead 12 being connected to the terminals of the split base motor 30, while the lead 10 is connected with a reversing switch 14 to thereby control the direction of rotation of the motor 30. Also connected to the motor circuits are limiting switches 16 and 78 of any suit able construction, and which are mounted upon the structure with which the door operating mechanism is associated, in such a manner that the finger 64 on each of the carriage members 22 is enabled to engage and actuate one of the switches 76 and 18 at the extremes of .the movement of the .door. Thus, when the switch 14 is manually operated, the motor 30 is placed in motion and the door is either open or closed, and as. it approaches its extreme position, one of the switches 16 or is operated to open the circuit and discontinue operation of the motor. When the switch 14 is thrown to the other direction, the operation is reversed, the other one of the switches 16 or 18 against stopping the door when it has reached its extreme position.

Since various known electrical circuits and systems are available for carrying out this operation, the actual electrical system in itself forms no part of the invention and hence is not deemed to be necessary of further illustration.

From the foregoing, the manner of constructing and operating the .device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readil occur to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specification and the accompanying drawings, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, but all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In an overhead door control device, a door, tracks for slidably receiving said door, a pair of horizontal door carriage tracks, a door carriage engaged in each track and secured to said door, a door operating track paralleling one of said support tracks, a flexible operating means slidingly guided in said operating track for straight line push and pull motion, said door carriage being connected to one end of said operating means, a driving member connected to said operating means for imparting reciprocation thereto and a source of power connected to said driving member, said operating track including a channel member having a bottom, side walls and inwardly extending top walls providing a medial, longitudinal slot therebetween, said carriage extending through and being slidable in said slot, said bottom wall having a longitudinal rail forming said lower guide surface, said top walls having depending, parallel and longitudinal flanges forming said upper guide surfaces.

2. The combination of claim 1, wherein said operating means comprises a sprocket chain, the chain pins of said chain being slidably received between said rail and flanges and extending across said slot.

3. The combination of claim 2, wherein the links of said chain overlap the adjacent edges of said rail and flanges for lateral guiding engagement therewith.

4. An operating track for a flexible member subjected to reciprocatory motion, said flexible member being attached to an operating arm comprising; a bottom, parallel and laterally spaced sides attached to said bottom, inwardly extending top walls on said sides, the adjacent edges of the top walls being laterally spaced to define a medial, longitudinal slot therebetween, said arm extending through said slot and being slidable therein, said top walls having depending, parallel and longitudinal flanges forming upper guide surfaces, said bottom having a longitudinal, medial rib forming a lower guide surface, said upper and lower guide surfaces slidably receiving said flexible member in non-buckling position therebetween.

5. The combination of claim 4, wherein said flexible member comprises a sprocket chain, said chain having link pins, said flanges engaging the upper surface of said link pins, said rib engaging the lower side of said link pins.

6. In an overhead door control device, a door, tracks for slidably receiving said door, a pair of horizontal door carriage tracks, a door carriage engaged in each track and secured to said door, a door operating track paralleling said support track, a sprocket chain slidingly guided in each operating track for straight line push-pull motion, said operating track having an upper guide surface and a base, a longitudinal medial rail on said base, said sprocket chain being slidably and guidably disposed in non-buckling position between said upper guide surface and said rail.

'7. The combination of claim 6, including parallel longitudinal ribs depending from said operating track and forming said upper guide surface, said rail and said ribs engaging the link pins of said sprocket chain on the upper and lower sides thereof.

8. The combination of claim '7, wherein the links of said sprocket chain laterally overlap the adjacent edges of said rail and ribs for lateral guiding engagement therewith.

JAMES N. McNINCH. LAWRENCE E. MYERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

